The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

4- The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday February 2, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com Councillors eye options for QEP community centre By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF 1of 2packages Telus phone WIN! JAIL& BAIL Cancer Fundraiser February 8, 2008 ! . . ncer N . ca F Unst Ei T Ht aga O R figh F S the U N win I J O p us l he d an QEW & Trafalgar Rd. SPONSORED BY: The Queen Elizabeth Park Community Centre came one step closer to becoming a reality on Tuesday as Oakville's Community Services Committee endorsed a staff report on the subject. The report, which the committee accepted, called for the development of a 52,300-63,500 square foot West end facility that would include such features as a swimming pool, gymnasia, seniors' space youth space, meeting/community rooms, arts/cultural space, active living space and associated amenities. Oakville Mayor Rob Burton also requested that staff review the pros and cons of adding a practice-sized ice pad and some level of library service to the centre. Staff guided the committee through two possible construction options for the centre. In option 1 the Town would retain as much of the existing Queen Elizabeth Park School facility as is useful and appropriate, demolish the remainder and construct any new components where necessary. In option 2 the existing Queen Elizabeth Park School facility would be demolished and replaced with a new facility. "At this point no decision has been made about the total or partial demolition of the building. This will be determined at a later stage," said Nina de Vaal, Director of Recreation and Culture, Town of Oakville. "Both of these options have advantages and disadvantages." One of the advantages of option 1 is lower capital cost, for while a partial demolition would cost between $14 million and $17 million (depending on facility size), a total demolition and rebuilding would result in a price tag of between $16 million and $19 million. The first option would also be slightly more environmentally friendly as existing materials would be reused, however, where option 1 falls short is the likelihood that it would result in higher operating costs and that the efficiency of the centre would be limited by the layout of the existing structure. Option 2 would permit decisions to be made on the optimum location of the centre and parking, a greater opportunity to provide a state-of-the-art facility and the ability to craft the centre for the most efficient and appropriate use of space. Ward 1 Councillor Ralph Robinson asked when the public would be approached to help choose a suitable option. "Upon approval this evening we can proceed almost immediately," said de Vaal. "We will certainly establish our committee within the next few months. We haven't picked anybody yet, but we will be asking for representation from stakeholder groups."